1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a terminal connector, and in particular to a terminal connector to which an electrical wire with an insulating cover can be electrically connected without stripping the insulating cover in advance of the connecting operation of the wire to the terminal.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, as such a terminal connector mentioned above, there is known a terminal connector as disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 59-226476. The conventional terminal connector is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2.
The conventional connector 1 has a terminal body 2 which is formed by punching a conductive metal plate and then bending it. The terminal body 2 includes an electrical connecting section 3 at a front side thereof to which a partner terminal connector (not shown) is electrically to be connected and a wire connecting section 4 at a rear side thereof to which an electrical wire 5 having a conductor 5a and an insulating cover 5b surrounding the conductor 5a is electrically to be connected by means of a connecting member 6.
The wire connecting section 4 includes a base plate portion 4a and two clamping wall portions 4b and 4c erectly formed on the opposite sides of the base plate portion 4a in the elongated direction of the terminal body 2, respectively. In FIG. 1, the width of the base plate portion 4a which is measured between the clamping wall portions 4b and 4c is indicated by the letter "W1", and the length of the base plate portion 4a which is corresponding to the length of each of the clamping wall portions 4b and 4c in the elongated direction of the terminal body 2 is indicated by the letter "L1".
The connecting member 6 comprises a C-shaped member having a base plate portion 6a and first and second erected wall portions 6b and 6c provided on opposite sides of the base plate portion 6a. The width "W2" of the base plate portion 6a of the connecting member 6 which is corresponding to the width of each or the erected wall portions 6b and 6c is slightly shorter than the width "W1" of the base plate portion 4a of the wire connecting section 4, and the distance "L2" which is measured between the first and second erected wall portions 6b and 6c is slightly longer than the length "L1" of the base plate portion 4a of the wire connecting section 4.
The first erected wall portion 6b has a recess 7b into which the insulating cover 5b of the electrical wire 5 is tightly secured. The second erected wall portion 6c also has a recess 7c, of which width is narrower than that of the recess 7b of the former wall portion 6b, into which the conductor 5a of the electrical wire 5 is tightly secured to establish an electrical connection between the connecting member 6 and the conductor 5a of the wire 5.
In use of the terminal connector 1, as shown in FIG. 1, first the connecting member 6 constituted as described above is put on the wire connecting section 4 of the terminal body 2 in such a manner that the first and second erected wall portions 6b and 6c thereof are aligned along the elongated direction of the terminal body 2. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, by clamping the clamping wall portions 4b and 4c of the wire connecting section 4 so as to engage with the base plate portion 6a of the connecting member 5, respectively, the connecting member 6 is mounted to the wire connecting section 4. Then, the electrical wire 5 is attached to the connecting member 6 already mounted to the terminal body 2 by pressurizingly inserting the electrical wire 5 into the recesses 7b and 7c of the first and second wall portions 6b and 6c of the connecting member 6. In this case, the insulating cover 5b of the electrical wire 5 is tightly secured within the recess 7b of the first wall portion 6b of the connecting member 6. On the other hand, since the width of the recess 7c of the second wall portion 6c is smaller than that of the recess 7b of the first wall portion 6b, the insulating cover 5b is stripped when it is pressurizingly inserted into the recess 7c of the second wall portion 6c with a specific pusher (not shown), so that the conductor 5a of the electrical wire 5 is brought into contact with the inner surface of the recess 7c of the second wall portion 6c to establish an electrical connection between the electrical wire 5 and the connecting member 6. As a result, an electrical connection between the electrical wire 5 and the terminal connector 1 is established.
In the conventional terminal connector as described above, however, there are disadvantages such as follows. Namely, in the conventional terminal connector 1, since two processes that mounts the connecting member 6 to the wire connecting section 4 of the terminal body 2 and then connects the electrical wire 5 to the connecting member 6 at the two recesses 7b and 7c are required in order to connect the electrical wire 5 to the terminal connector 1, it is difficult to improve operation efficiency for the connection, which results in increase of manufacturing cost thereof. Further, in the conventional terminal connector 1, it is required to prepare the specific pusher which pressurizingly inserts the wire into the recesses 7b and 7c when the wire 5 is electrically connected to the connecting member 6. The pusher requires to have a specific mechanism since a diameter of a wire to be connected is relatively too small. Therefore, the cost for preparing the machine is relatively expensive, thus also leading to cost up in the manufacturing the terminals.